Alex Hribal was 16 when he stabbed over 20 people at Franklin Regional High School in 2014. Some of the injuries sustained by the victims were so severe that internal organs were exposed and facial features were removed.

Hribal modeled his attack after Columbine by originally planning the attack for the 15th anniversary of Columbine, April 20th, 2014. However, there were no classes scheduled for that day so he moved the date up to April 9th, the birthday of Columbine coward Eric Harris. He even told the defense’s psychiatrist he believed he was being “egged on or controlled by Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris from hell.” Bullying was brought up as a motive but was quickly dismissed by both police and Hribal’s own attorney at the time. He was subsequently charged as an adult for his actions.

Hribal pleaded guilty to 21 counts of attempted murder back in October. Today, he was sentenced to 23-60 years behind bars. At sentencing, Hribal had this to say…

“I feel horrible about everything but there’s no words to use, nothing I can say to make it all better or fix it.”

That’s not stopping his lawyer from appealing the sentence arguing his client should have been tried in juvenile court.

Of course, even though it had been previously dismissed as a motive, his parents tried to deflect blame on to bullying…

Hribal’s parents also addressed the court, saying the case was about bullying and mental illness. His mother broke down on the stand, sobbing and saying Alex was their responsibility and told the judge, “I’m the one that should be sentenced, not him.”

In my opinion, they should both be going to jail if his parents knew about his Columbine obsession and refused to do anything about it. Unfortunately, the law doesn’t work like that.

UPDATE 10/30/2019: Last week, Hirbal’s sentence was upheld by a Pennsylvania appeals court.